Any day now, the very last seats for Åsa’s Christmas lunches will be gone! This year’s guest list holds a total of 1,280 people – all of whom can also look forward to entertainment from the school’s music course.

This year, bookings for the popular Christmas lunches opened as early as September 1st.

At the same time, the convenient online payment system introduced last year was relaunched on the school’s website, making it easier than ever to pay directly when reserving a seat.

Still some places left
A delightfully large number of guests have taken the opportunity to enjoy the school restaurant’s festive delicacies. At the latest update on the 19th of November, only 110 of the nearly 1,300 places remained.

So it’s definitely time to hurry before the last seats are sold out! The sittings still open for booking are:

• Sunday 30 November at 12 noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
• Saturday 6 December at 12 noon and 2 p.m.
• Sunday 7 December at 12 noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Setting up for a musical moment
As tradition has it, this year’s lunch guests will once again be treated to some musical fare. Before each sitting, participants from Åsa’s music course will set up their instruments for a short performance during the mulled wine and gingerbread mingling.

Naturally, only Christmas music features on the repertoire – though, given the course’s musical focus, some pieces might appear in jazzy or funky arrangements.

Christmas music seems to hold a special place in the hearts of the school’s young musicians.

Romanticising the darkness
– It’s fantastic! I play and listen to Christmas music every year, and it never fails to hit the mark. Maybe it’s because it’s tied to such a cosy time of year – it romanticises a dark period, says Matilda Gramenius.

Some say it’s a big no-no to start listening to Christmas music – of any genre – before Advent. Matilda disagrees:

– As soon as Halloween’s over, it’s fine, she says, playing her absolute favourite on her phone: “Carol of the Bells“.

– Oh, it’s so good! she exclaims, humming along.

Her classmate Joel Eng prefers something jazzier:

– The theme from Karl-Bertil Jonsson’s Christmas Eve on TV. Imagine that and a bowl of Christmas porridge…, he says dreamily.

Plenty of rubbish too
Alicia Eklund throws her favourite, “Fairytale of New York“, into the mix – but adds, for balance:

– There’s actually quite a lot of bad Christmas music out there too. Plenty of ironic listening, she laughs.

At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether any of these three classmates will be performing during the 2025 Christmas lunches. Matilda took part last year and found the experience a pleasant way to meet the lunch guests.

– There’ll probably be plenty of mingling gigs like this if you work with music in the future. So playing at Åsa’s Christmas lunches is great preparation.

Text: Henrik Wising